Clay Lee
Broker/Realtor®
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Home Improvement & Design Category
Resort Style Living Right in College Station
August 17th, 2011 Categories: Home Improvement & Design, Pebble Creek, Real Estate News
How many times during the hectic work week do you find yourself asking “When do I get a vacation?”
You imagine yourself relaxing by the pool with a cold drink in your hand without a care in the world.
What you imagine might look a little like this:
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How to Present Your College Station Home in its Best Light
July 14th, 2010 Categories: Home Improvement & Design, Selling Real Estate
Many of the College Station residents I’ve spoken with recently are faced with the decision to sell their home; for some, this can be a worrisome issue. But this process does not have to be as stressful as it seems! A recurring question is, “How will my home do on the market?” As I’ve mentioned recently, it is a buyer’s market, so it is imperative for a seller to present the best product possible if they want to get a good deal on their home. As I tell my clients, if you want peace of mind - I cannot stress enough the necessity of showing a clean, well-maintained home. Though I’ve recently discussed staging a home, the need for further advice and details on home maintenance and presentation is critical. Whether you are in the position of needing to sell now, eventually, or even if you are set in your home for life, a well-maintained home is an essential point of pride.
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Tips for Staging your College Station Home, Ensuring a Faster Sale
July 7th, 2010 Categories: Home Improvement & Design, Selling Real Estate
When I am selling a Bryan/College Station home, I always offer tips to the seller concerning how to put their home in the best light for showings. First impressions are lasting impressions. And in soft market times, it is important to show your listing at its best advantage.
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LEED Certified Buildings a New Trend in College Station & Bryan
June 7th, 2010 Categories: Home Improvement & Design
Bryan saw its first LEED certified building go up in 2009. College Station has registered 11 LEED certified buildings for 2010, including many at Texas A&M University as well as College Station High School. This relatively new trend in building is beginning to make the move from public establishments to homes across the state and country. So why consider LEED building for your new home?
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Products to Green your College Station Home
June 2nd, 2010 Categories: Home Improvement & Design
As I’ve stressed in previous posts, College Station is going green, and this is a highly important movement for our community. What are some ways that the College Station homeowner can do more to lower their energy usage and keep their environment green?
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Trends with Space in College Station
June 1st, 2010 Categories: Home Improvement & Design
One common question I am presented with is, what are some current home trends I can use in my College Station home? Whether it is a result of having lots of extra space, limited available space, (square footage is going down - KB Homes for example offers a 900 sq. ft. home.) or simply wanting to get creative, here are a few ideas.
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Granite Counter Tops Worth it in College Station?
February 19th, 2010 Categories: Home Improvement & Design
Have you ever wondered if your College Station home would look better with granite counter tops? Do you know how they would wear? How much would it cost?
Of all the surfaces inside of the house, counter tops usually have to endure all the wear and tear. Anything you don’t want laying around on the floor usually ends up on counter tops, and accidents like to happen when given enough time. Even worse, scratches and gouges can be eye magnets, but even so, remodeling can be difficult to think about sometimes.
Home owners are sometimes daunted with the issue of remodeling: it can be painstaking to decide upon and it’s usually tough work. Beyond that, there is no formula to figuring out if the cost exceeds the benefit when part of the benefit is happiness
Research is very important, and there are a fair number of options with types of counter tops and manufacturers. After any amount of research, it’s clear that many consumer reports and magazines praise Read the rest of this entry »
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Electric Lawn Mowers – Green but Grievous
June 1st, 2009 Categories: Home Improvement & Design
Green Lawn Mower
BRYAN, TX — The Texas Municipal Power Agency encourages homeowners to use electric lawn mowers rather than gas to promote cleaner air. They are offering vouchers worth $150 toward the purchase of an electric-powered machine, corded or cordless.
You’re thinking, I gotta push this reel mower or work my way around power cords? That’s a big sacrifice for clean air. Well, Black and Decker does have a handy 24V battery mower but it will only cut up to 1/3 of an acre at a time. Then there’s a solar powered cordless from Solaris – that sounds neat.
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How to get rid of PMI – Part One
December 2nd, 2008 Categories: Buying Real Estate, Foreclosures, Home Improvement & Design, Real Estate News, Selling Real Estate
No I didn’t say PMS. If I knew that, then I’d be a millionaire. PMI – your Private Mortgage Insurance protects your lender in case if a borrower defaults on the loan, and the value of the home is lower than the loan balance.
Home Equity and PMI
PMI has been a large money-maker for the mortgage lenders. The amount of the insurance (usually $40/month for a $100k home) is commonly rolled into the mortgage payment. Given the size of the overall note payment, this additional fee is often overlooked. Homeowners continue to pay the PMI even after their loan balance has dropped below the original 80% threshold. This occurs naturally, of course, as the home owner pays down the principal on the loan. On a typical 30-year loan, however, it can take many years to reach that point.
Lenders were under no obligation to tell home owners when they had reached a point where the PMI can be dropped. That all changed back in 1999 when the Homeowners Protection Act took effect. In most cases, this law now obligates lenders to terminate Read the rest of this entry »
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Whistling Straits Party Benefits Brazos Valley Food Bank and Hurricane Ike Relief Efforts
October 3rd, 2008 Categories: Community Events, Home Improvement & Design, Pebble Creek, The Realtor's Life
Thursday, September 25, a benefit was held at 5203 Whistling Straits in support of the Hurricane Ike relief efforts. Many local firms were willing to donate items to the silent auction, and all proceeds from the auction went to the Brazos Valley Food Bank, who helped to get the money into the right hands.
Some of the items donated were: An area rug from Aggieland Carpets, several pieces of artwork by Aggie artist Benjamin Knox, a bottle of wine from JJ Ruffino, a $100 gift card to The Republic from Wade Barkman, Kohler bath hardware, a prep sink and a lavatory sink all from Moore Supply, a lamp from Susan Tremont, an under-counter refrigerator from Factory Building Stores, a framed picture from Myra’s Gallery and Custom Framing, a painting kit from Monarch, and French doors from Grand Door Co. to be stained by Rob Crowley.
Hors d’oeuvres were provided by The Republic and prepared on location by chef Brian Light. There was also a bar set up in the outdoor kitchen serving drinks all night. Procedes from the bar also went to the Hurricane Ike Relief fund.
Benjamin Knox, who designed the house, and builder Rob Crowley were available to answer any questions about the house which finished construction recently. Guests came and went from early evening until around 10:00 at night. Overall, everyone who came had fun enjoying the food, drinks, and touring this beautiful, one of a kind house. All of the guests were also very generous and giving, raising over $3000 dollars in the auction to go to the relief fund.
Thanks to everyone who attended this event as well as all of the companies who donated towards the auction and the relief fund. It was truly a showing of the spirit of Aggieland, and our willingness to come together and help when there is a need.
If you have any question, feel free to contact me anytime at rclaylee@yahoo.com or 979-255-1839
College Station’s #1 Luxury Lifestyle & Real Estate Expert for over a Decade!
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